Research & Innovation Library

More than 2 million American teenagers are affected by obesity, and very few of them are able to change their diets or exercise habits. That means that obese kids almost always become obese adults, significantly increasing their long-term risk of comorbidities like cancer, stroke and heart disease. That leaves providers and parents wondering: When should we consider bariatric surgery?

One of the biggest challenges for families with epilepsy is finding expert care, close to home. Children’s Health℠ recently took a big step towards helping more families overcome that challenge. Our Plano hospital, Children’s Medical Center Plano, was designated a Level 3 epilepsy center by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers (NAEC). 

Transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement (TPVR) has revolutionized care for many children with heart problems, but one group is often left out: patients with dilated right ventricular outflow tracts. Traditionally, open-heart surgery has been their only option because their outflow tracts are too big to accommodate transcatheter valves. But this may soon change thanks to the Edwards Alterra Adaptive Prestent – a self-expanding, stent-like device that creates a “landing zone” for transcatheter valves.

Children’s Health℠ is one of four sites in a Phase I trial of the innovative device, which is used in combination with the SAPIEN 3 Transcatheter Heart Valve System. Preliminary results are promising, with many children.

In a state as large as Texas, it would be inefficient – and nearly impossible – to transfer every neonate to a Level IV NICU. That’s why Children’s Health℠ and UT Southwestern developed one of the nation’s most comprehensive TeleNICU programs. Along the way, we solved thorny compliance and legal problems, built our own telemedicine platform and created a model that keeps costs low for partner hospitals.

Our program is helping neonates stay closer to home, lowering health care costs and letting partner hospitals keep more neonatal patients in-house – and it could be a model for other pediatric centers to follow.

Prune belly syndrome (PBS) is rare but devastating: 30 percent of babies with PBS die of renal failure or urosepsis by age two. Linda Baker, M.D., is undertaking an NIH study to uncover the genetic changes that cause the disorder – and has identified intriguing candidate genes. She’s also leading clinical research to reduce the problems associated with PBS and improve physical therapy for children with it.